Why Voting Is Important

Voting is one of the most important things that can be done as an American. Voting gives people the right to voice their opinion on pending laws, ordinances, and who they want to be in local and state officials. It also will let people decide who will be the leaders of our country. Voting makes it impossible for someone or one party to stay in office longer than the legal amount of time. Voting gives people the power so there cannot be laws passed without them having a say on it.If a law is being voted on the members of the community, which it will be affecting will have a chance to vote on it. Some elections are won by a very small margins and it could have gone in the other direction if everyone that was eligible to vote, would register and actually go out and vote. People who do not vote, others decide what is good for the way that they will living our lives. Voting decides how American is going to be run and everyone’s voice will be heard.Voting is part of being an America n, and everyone should take advantage of it. Voting is important because it exercises our right to vote as an American citizen to express our issues and ideas. Voting is the most powerful way to express your ideas and opinions. If you didn’t vote you would never be able to argue your opinion on such things as abortion, gas prices, tax dollars, or more better paying jobs. Voting exercises your right as an American citizen to express your issues and opinions.The leaders of our country have always been chosen through the presidential election since the beginning of constitution and by laws. Voting helps decide who will run our nation for the next term. Without voting our country would be ran by monarchy or dictatorship. Voting to decide who will run our country for the next four years is more than important to our survival as a nation of strong free people. Voting makes the difference from being lead by someone we chose as the people than by someone who took charge without the p eoples consent or by their bloodline.

Reclaiming the Commons

My paper is based on the article entitled â€Å"Reclaiming the Commons†, by Naomi Klein. In this article the author defines what anti-globalization movement means in her own words. The meaning and origins of the term anti-globalization movement is disputed amongst various socialists and economists, but Klein says that anti-globalization movement can mean different things to different people based on their interests in a particular issue. It is therefor the movement of many movements. Before going in depth about the article, it is important to know from where the idea of anti-globalization comes from and how the movement came into being. Some argue that is all started from Seattle, but a lot of them are unaware of the fact that AGM has gone through three waves. The first wave was back in 1970, when oil prices skyrocketed due to economic downturn, which lead to strikes, protests and demonstrations. The second wave erupted with the end of the cold war, during the early 1990’s and the third wave democracy spread like wild fire. The third and most important wave was during the 50th anniversary of Bretton Woods when the WTO emerged from the GATT. The third wave lead to many activist groups to rise and this lead to overlapping emphasis on various issues like; anti-capitalist groups, women’s rights groups, global inequality groups, and many others. Klein mentions that people join the AGM because of similar interests and ideologies, which might be different from the regular mass. I personally think that people who do not agree with the common norms of society join these groups in an attempt to show their rebellious attitude towards the big corporations and political powers. It is a known fact that one individual cannot tackle an entire organization and therefore, they form these individuals come together and make an organization of their own. They work together against the elites who turn almost everything into commodities; from education, to health care, to natural resources, even we are commodities since we â€Å"sell† our labor, it is considered a commodity. The basic things we need to survive are being privatized by these multinational corporations, because of their greed for power and profit. In our hegemonic society, most of the people are almost brainwashed by powerful individuals who build leadership and consensus in the face of great inequality. They frame and spin the truth in such a way, that it seems to be in the best interest of the citizens. People who realize this resist to the changes that are implicated on them and the society. These people with similar interests also form a group to protest against these big corporations and their immoralities. So we can see how different groups emerge because of different issues that they face. As Klein mentions in the article, activists who want change are not waiting for a revolution to happen, they are acting right now because what can be done today should not be left for tomorrow. Another reason is that the global economy and infrastructure keeps changing so rapidly, that it is sometimes hard to catch up to it and if they do want to make a difference, then they need to act quickly. As a result, these activists create their own anti-privatization campaigns and most of the times these campaigns get under way on their own. Sometimes, other activist groups join in together and even though it seems that these organized groups work together, each participate because of their own benefits as I have mentioned above. For example, there can be an alliance between the women’s right group and the movements of small farmers. Each have their own motifs but if they work together they can get more attention and make their voices heard in a larger scale. These are more local campaigns that occur every now and then but there are also larger global scale campaigns that take place and these protests are usually directed towards international and supranational organizations like the G-8, the WTO, the World Bank, and the IMF. These movements initially used to aim at local and national issues, but now because of globalization, they are aimed at the new global order that has no democratic institutions. During these campaigns, protestors take to the streets because that is the main form of expression that is available to them. In the article, there is an example of Maude Barlow, a Canadian activist, who said that when she was leading the campaign against NAFTA, she was doing that to fight for her nation, but now the cause has gone beyond nationality and state borders. Now things are more global and it is no longer a fight for nationalism but for democracy. When these small activist groups started to get more involved with the global society, they realized it was a much bigger problem then they anticipated. Thanks to the big corporations, they now see the root cause of these problems. It was clear right from the beginning that these corporations played a big part in creating these issues but now, the activists realize that these money hungry corporations are not only involved, but they are the ones who have created these issues and inequalities in the first place. The rich gets richer, and the poor get poorer, hence the gap keeps on getting bigger and they use the working class citizens to feed them and their selfish needs. As consumers, we always look at the front end of production and ignore the back end because we have never thought of looking at it in any other way. But for me, the back end is more of a terrifying horror story. Underpaid workers, child labor, and sweatshops are just parts of it, and there are only a few who have stood up against this harsh reality because most people are just afraid to stand up against these large corporations. For example, Nike, one of the biggest corporations in the world use child labor and sweatshop and they are the ones who helped pioneer the new brand of activist synergy which basically means the coalition of multiple activist groups to fight against these corporations to create a larger global effect then they would have individually. The basic cause of these activist groups is to stop the WTF, IMF and FTAA from creating any legislation that will directly affect the economy and the working class individuals. Their fear is privatization and the loss of the people. But sometimes, these activists’ movements turn into violent protests when outsiders who have little knowledge about the reality of the situation try and barge in. This creates chaos and thus the real point remains undelivered. This happens due to the non-hierarchical structure of the movement and the unorganized press conferences. Usually the protests are not thought out or planned before hand, which leads to dramatic circumstances. These are the reasons why companies like Nike are still in business and no matter how much or how big the protest, nothing is being done. The protests might have reduced the issue, as some would like to believe, but did not completely eliminate it. Some people ask, if they know the corporations are so powerful, why stand up against them? The reason Klein mentions is that activists usually protest because they know that the change they anticipate for, will not come through electoral politics or any other form of industrial power and thus, they challenge the constitutions and structures themselves. There is an obvious injustice and inequality that goes on which are always being undermined, and the reason why these problems occur in the first place is because of the poor decision making of these powers. Instead of the people making the decisions themselves, they are forced to follow the legislation created by these political and industrial powers. Klein also argues that most complaints against the WTO is about governments embracing an economic model that involves much more then opening borders to goods and services and therefore the term anti-globalization is not appropriate. But most people do not understand the term globalization and therefore this movement gets criticized over and over again. If we talk about just anti-globalization, it more or less means being against trade and globalization but in reality, the movement is not against trade but it is against the tag along that come with free trade that are imposed by the government and law makers. In this hegemonic society, it is almost impossible for an individual to stand up and fight against the system alone and that is where the anti-globalization movement comes in. So through this analysis, we can see that there are two types of analysts. There are those activists who fight for global and broader issues, and there are those who fight for day-to-day survivals and are the most neglected. The only ways their voices can be heard is by merging the two together and form a concrete alliance that is strong enough to fight these elites. This will create a political framework that can take corporate power and control, and also empower local organizing and self-determination. Therefore, Klein says that the real motif behind the movement is not weather it is for or against trade, but if individuals have the right to negotiate the terms and conditions that come with these foreign capitals and investments. In other words, even though the term is a little misleading, their real goal is not to demolish globalization but to make it more fare and equal.

Securitisation

Outline the advantages and disadvantages of the securitisation of bank loans 1. 1 Introduction â€Å"The recent turmoil in credit markets has highlighted how securitisation has changed in only a few years from being a relatively niche market in the euro area to being a major force behind capital market developments†. This growth in securitisation reflects the increased pace of financial innovation in the financial markets.It is rational to say that this global trend of the growth in securitisation is a result of the advantages that are derived by the different parties engaged in the transaction. Securitisation has become an important tool for many companies and a key part of the global capital markets. However, while securitisation has benefited the financial system as a whole through enhancing its ability in performing its various functions, it has concurrently changed the underlying economics of the banking system, which brought consequences as those experienced in the 2007 financial crisis.Whether the gains exceed the losses is a debatable issue in itself as some intellectuals believe that securitisation has â€Å"contributed to the development of a far more flexible, efficient, and resilient financial system than existed just a quarter-century ago†, while others believe the opposite. The significance of securitisation has led to there has been talks by influential bodies about how securitisation can be regulated or changed as to maximise the benefits and minimize the costs.In this essay, to answer the above question I will define securitisation, explain its mechanics and nature and lastly discuss its advantages and disadvantages for the different parties engaged in it and the financial system as a whole. The scope of this essay is secondary securitisation, so the above will be discussed specifically to this type and not primary and tertiary. 1. 2 Definition of key terms Securitisation in general is the â€Å"creation and issuance of debt secu rities, or bonds, whose payments of principal and interest derive from cash flows generated by separate pools of assets†.There 2 types of securities that can be issued. When the securitised assets are mortgages, the securities issued are known as Mortgage -Backed Securities (MBS) and where it is other assets which are non-mortgage loans then Asset-backed securities (ABS) are issued. In the latter type, assets included are such as consumer loans, credit card receivables and car loans. These securities are marketable financial instruments, and tradable. In every securitisation transaction the capital markets are displacing the banks regardless of its type, whether primary secondary or tertiary, i. . disintermediation. Secondary securitisation is Asset Backed. Bank of England defines this type as â€Å"a transaction or scheme whereby the credit risk of an asset or a pool of assets such is transferred to an external undertaking (the securitisation special purpose vehicle or struc ture), which then transfers this credit risk onwards to investors in fixed-income securities known as asset backed securities issued by that undertaking. The investors in the securities may be either external investors or the institution that originated the underlying assets†.Another way to look at this process is through Professor Llewellyn definition which explicitly high lightens the benefits. He defines secondary securitisation as ‘the conversion of cash flows from a portfolio of assets into negotiable instruments or assignable debts which are sold to investors, are secured on the underlying assets and carry a variety of credit enhancement†. To clearly outline the pros and cons of the participants in the process, one needs to understand their roles as shown below in figure 1. Figure 1 1. 3 How it worksWhen a bank transforms a portfolio of loans that it is currently holding on the balance sheet into tradable securities issued by a bankruptcy-remote special purpo se vehicle it follows a basic procedure as seen in the diagram. A number of customers borrow from the bank. They all have to payback regular interest and principal payments to the bank as agreed upon on the contract. Starting from the originator in this case the bank, it pools together a number of these loans (assets) and constructs a portfolio of which it sells to the special purpose vehicle SPV.The SPV usually acquires the underlying assets from the originator in what is known as a true sale. It is critical that the transfer of assets from the originator to the SPV is legally viewed as a â€Å"true sale†. This is because it gives the investors rights over the specific assets of the originator, such that the investors are not affected by the performance, or bankruptcy of the originator. This would obviously necessitate that the investors, or the SPV which is a conduit on behalf of the investors, has legally acquired the assets.If it is not a true sale the investor will be vu lnerable to claims against the asset originator in this case the bank. The SPV then issues asset – backed securities to investors which investors can them trade in the financial capital markets. Investors then buy these securities and the SPV receives the regular interest and principal payments from the borrowers through the originator or servicer (if the bank does not retain the servicing function) who charge a certain fee. The SPV pays the originator for the portfolio in a lump sum rather than a stream of payments spread over time.It is important to acknowledge that the bank continues to maintain the relationship with the customer and it does not have a duty to inform this about this process. The credit quality of the securities issued by the SPV is rated by a rating agency before being sold to investors. Also another important participant though missing in figure 1:1, is a credit enhancer. This is either internally or externally done and it might take the form of â€Å"ov er – securitisation (placing a higher value of loan in the portfolio than the value of the sale), a third party guarantee or a guarantee from the seller†.This has the effect of limiting the risk to investors. The underwriter is usually an investment bank that serves as an intermediary between the issuer (SPV or the trust) and investors. The swap counterparty as seen in the diagram is normally involved to hedge the interest rate and currency risks on the pool and the trustee ensures that the money is transferred from the servicer to the SPV and that investors are paid in accordance with the promised priority. A crucial aspect of securitisation is the isolation of assets. After a true sale, the assets (collateral) are held by the SPV or equivalent.This protects the seller (originator) from the risk of the assets and investor from the risks of the bank, because even if the bank goes bankrupt, the payments on the assets will continue to be made, so investors still receive t he interest and principal payments. An SPV might be a completely independent entity or a subsidiary of the bank itself. In the crisis it was more of the latter. However, for it to be a subsidiary it will only work if the SPV is bankruptcy remote, as explained earlier. This is where under company law the SPV is immune to the bankruptcy of the ank. This makes their risk entirely different and this is how credit risk isolation and shifting is possible. Also an SPV might become a Structured Investment Vehicle. Often the SPV has a higher credit rating (most secure a AAA rating) than the originator. The SPV performing the asset-backed securitization(s) also usually has a backup liquidity facility in place provided by a stand-by commitment from a syndicate (group) of banks. This facility protects the investors who purchase the commercial paper issued by the SPV as the assets are being purchased and pooled.If for some reason the SPV cannot attract the same or new investors to roll over the commercial paper or there is insufficient cash flow generated by the pool to pay off maturing commercial paper then the SPV draws on the backup liquidity facility to pay off the investors and the bank group then become the owners of the assets held by the SPV (to either wait for the cash flow to improve or to liquidate the portfolio). Credit enhancements are required in order to receive higher debt ratings and thus improve marketability and financing costs.The credit enhancement of a securitization can be achieved by dividing it into tranches and allowing some tranches be exposed first to any loss from defaulting / under-performing individual asset or group of assets first. In this manner, these front-line tranches almost function like an equity piece such that the investors in the other tranches (Mezzanine tranches) are satisfied first before the lower tranches. These lower-rated (first loss) tranches usually receive a higher yield (due to their higher risk position) when the secur ity is first structured in order to attract investors when first brought to market. . Advantages of secondary securitisation There are different aspects to the benefits of securitisation, the benefits derived by the issuer (bank) and those derived by the investor and the financial system as a whole. 2. 1 The issuer Secondary securitisation benefits the banks by helping them generate more funds but also by allowing them to manage their assets and liabilities, risk and also capital. * A source of funding Securitisation enables banks to change the illiquid portfolio of loans into liquid tradable securities. It makes loans marketable.So the banks get funds immediately from selling the portfolio to the SPV. Also there being a secondary market for these securities in itself increases the attractiveness of investors to buy the securities meaning more funds. The funding source is also widened because as the risk are specific, asset –backed securities often appeal to investors who wou ld not normally make funds available to banks by themselves. This source of funding may also be cheaper for the bank. This is because banks do not need to increase their interest rates to ‘attract marginal deposits to fund their loan book’.Also because the banks transfer the asset to the SPV they do not need to hold capital against the loans (assets) which is a cost, making this type of funding cheaper. Ultimately this means that it can offer lower interest rates to borrowers, which could have the effect of increasing the quantity of loans demanded. This cheapness is not always possible; it only depends on the nature of the risks of the portfolio after and before securitisation. * Asset and liability management The fact that securitisation allows banks to shift the assets from their balance sheet allows them to change their asset composition on the sheet within a given total.They can change the structure of their assets and ‘reduce exposure to a particular loan ca tegory’ by securitizing those loans which also helps in managing risks. It also provides the balance sheet with flexibility and facilitates diversification of the loan portfolio. * Risk management As the definition implies, securitisation allows banks to transfer and shift credit risk from their balance sheet to those who are willing and more able to absorb them. Hence this allows banks to manage their risk and limit their risks by selling those loans.The transfer of risk allows banks to not hold any capital against the risks, so as earlier said reduces the cost of banking. It also allows them to manage interest rate risk. * Capital Management Due to the increasing competitive pressures, they cannot earn a sufficient return on the assets to service their capital base well. Securitisation saves them capital as explained earlier. * Other Banks can earn additional income by charging fees on originating loans that it does not intend to keep on its balance sheet.Also banks still g et to maintain their relationship with their customers and reduce the overall cost of intermediation by concentrating on their comparative advantages (originating loans). 2. 2 The investor * It gives investors the opportunity to earn a higher rate of return (on a risk-adjusted basis). Also the high liquidity of securities means that investors can trade them for cash at their own convenience. * Asset backed securities allows the isolation of credit risk from the originator.This could benefit investors in that they are not exposed to the banks risks of which could increase the credit rating of the underlying assets themselves. * Investors also get the opportunity to invest in a specific pool of high quality assets: Due to the stringent requirements for corporations (for example) to attain high ratings, there is a dearth of highly rated entities that exist. Securitizations, however, allow for the creation of large quantities of AAA, AA or A rated bonds, and risk averse institutional in vestors, or investors that are required to invest in only highly rated assets, have access to a larger pool of investment options. Investors can gain portfolio diversification as they tend to invest in securities that may be uncorrelated  to their other bonds and securities. 2. 3 The Financial System In general securitisation, being part of innovation has benefits for the financial system and the economy as a whole by contribution to the basic functions of the financial system: risk-transference, pricing of risk, liquidity-enhancement, credit-generation and financial intermediation, insurance, asset and liability management, an efficient allocation of financial resources, and the funding of financial institutions.Securitisation as a technique means that loans are assed more frequently and hence to current terms as when they are just on a bank’s balance sheet. In a way this allows the risks prices to be adjusted accordingly. Also another important direct contribution is the ability that it offers banks to lend more to the economy by knowing that it can sell the loans. This has its drawbacks which will be discussed later, but while it is possible, it helps the real economy as governments encourage more lending for the betterment of the real economy.In addition, securitisation allows different parties to concentrate on their comparative advantages such as banks being originators. It is in this ways that securitisation increases the efficiency of the financial system which is a social benefit to its people. The Bank for international settlements summarises this in ‘â€Å"the development of credit risk transfer [CRT] has a potentially important impact on the functioning of the financial system. It provides opportunity for more effective risk management, promises the relaxation of some constraints on credit availability, and allows more efficient allocation of risk to a wider range of entities.The pricing information provided by new CRT markets is al so leading to enhanced transparency and liquidity in credit markets. † 3. Disadvantages of secondary securitisation 3. 1 The issuer * The first transaction has to be significant and it can be costly also. There are compliance costs and reduced control by the originator of the assets sold to the SPV. * Though it the securitisation structure looks fairly simple, just like other CRS (credit shifting instruments), they are very complex in nature, to the extent that banks and other institutions did not fully understand the risks which they were taking and exposing themselves to.As seen in the crisis, the risk were not always shifted, sometimes they were just transferred, from credit risk to a liquidity risk and finally to a funding risk , which was evident in the crisis when Interbank Market almost dried up and there was no securities trading. This is what contributed to the financial crisis as while every bank was diversifying into this business, they financial system became less diverse. * If banks do this in large amounts, they could become dependent on the securities market which proved to have it consequences, when trading ceased. As the wealthy reader summarised; â€Å"Without risks, bank went crazy. Credit scores didn't matter, â€Å"liar loans† were common†. This proved to back fire for the banks themselves because they were also investing in securities issued by other banks and it led to huge losses for the banks. 3. 2 The investors Securitisation exposes investors to a number of risks such as * Credit/default risk when maintenance obligations on the underlying collateral are not sufficiently met as detailed in its prospectus. A key indicator of a particular security’s default risk is its credit rating. Different tranches within the ABS are rated differently, with senior classes of most issues receiving the highest rating, and subordinated classes receiving correspondingly lower credit ratings’ . However, the crisis has ex posed a potential flaw in the securitisation process; ‘loan originators retain no residual risk for the loans they make, but collect substantial fees on loan issuance and securitization, which doesn't encourage improvement of underwriting standards’. Prepayment/reinvestment/early amortisation: The majority of revolving ABS is subject to some degree of early amortization risk. The risk stems from specific early amortization events or payout events that cause the security to be paid off prematurely. Typically, payout events include insufficient payments from the underlying borrowers, insufficient excess Fixed Income Sectors: Asset-Backed Securities spread, a rise in the default rate on the underlying loans above a specified level, a decrease in credit enhancements below a specific level, and bankruptcy on the part of the sponsor or servicer. Currency interest rate fluctuations: Like all fixed income securities, the prices of fixed rate ABS move in response to changes in i nterest rates but floating rate securities are affected more. * Moral hazard: Investors usually rely on the deal manager to price the securitizations’ underlying assets. If the manager earns fees based on performance, there may be a temptation to mark up the prices of the portfolio assets. ‘Conflicts of interest can also arise with senior note holders when the manager has a claim on the deal's excess spread’ * There is also a risk that the payments will be late from the servicer. . 3 The financial system The consequences of securitisation that were experienced in the crisis were expensive as Sir Howard Davies inferred â€Å"[CDOs] are the most toxic element of the financial markets today† . Securitisation and Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) are described as two major instruments at the centre of the financial market turmoil. European banks also took on board significant securitisation programmes. . They contributed highly to the global financial cri sis which has had massive costs to the tax payers, governments and central banks.An important aspect of securitisation is that it has changed the traditional model of banking and hence underlying economics of banking. With securitization banks accept deposits, originate loans, utilizes it comparative advantages, as it did traditionally. However with securitisation is does not accept risk, does not hold it on its balance sheet and therefore needs no capital backing and insurance, things which it traditionally did. This change of model have had severe implication for the financial system as banks stopped acting like banks, and it was clear that they did not quite understand the implications.Another big effect is the effect that this had had on the financial system stability of which in itself is an ambiguous issue. 4. Conclusion There has been a division in the overall effects of securitisation to the global economy and financial system. While influential people like Warren Buffet reg ard it as a lethal weapon, others think the opposite. Regardless of the costs there are substantial benefits for the system. It is now evident that when a securitisation gets beyond the critical device of market participants, however, it is capable of destroying value.The potential harm is greater in globally interconnected markets. Hence it would be beneficial for the whole system if regulators, supervisors and all participants learn the flaws of securitisation from the crisis and improve the process to form one which ensures that the benefits are derived at the minimum costs, or no costs. As Professor David Llewellyn states; â€Å"the baby (of securitisation) should not be drowned in the bathwater (of regulation)†. Bibliography * Llyewellyn. , T, David. , 2000,. Securitisation a technique for asset and liability management * Casu, B. , Girardone. , Molyneux P. 2006. Introduction to banking. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. * ECB financial stability review. , 2008. , securi tisation in the Euro area. Available at http://www. afi. es/EO/securitisation%20in%20the%20euro%20area. pdf [ Accessed 5/4/11] * http://www. banque-credit. org/EN/banks/advantage-securitisation. html[Accessed on 19/04/11] * Lederman, J. , 1990. , The Handbook of Asset-Backed Securities * Tarun, S. , Securitisation: Understanding the Risks and Rewards . Available at http://www. qfinance. com/contentFiles/QF02/gjbkw9a0/17/0/securitisation-understanding-the-risks-and-rewards. df [Accessed :01/05/11] * Llewellyn, T, D. , 2009. , the global banking crisis and the post crisis banking and regulatory scenario . 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Available at http://www. tavakolistructuredfinance. com/Reporting%20v%20PR_Meredith%20Whitney%20and%20AIG%20March%2023%202009. pdf [ 30 ]. Available at http://www. banque-credit. rg/EN/banks/advantage-securitisation. html. [ 31 ]. Llewellyn, T, D. , 2009. , The Northern Rock Crisis: A Multi-Dimensional problem waiting to happen [ 32 ]. Llyewellyn, T, David. , 2008. , Financial innovation and a new economics for banking [ 33 ]. Tarun, S. , Securitisation: Understanding the R isks and Rewards . Available at http://www. qfinance. com/contentFiles/QF02/gjbkw9a0/17/0/securitisation-understanding-the-risks-and-rewards. pdf [Accessed :17/04/11] [ 34 ]. Llewellyn, T, D. , 2009. , the global banking crisis and the post crisis banking and regulatory scenario .

Problems and Opportunities Facing Les Gourmands Specialty Chocolates Essay

Problems and Opportunities Facing Les Gourmands Specialty Chocolates - Essay Example One major reason for the reduced holiday and special occasion sales potential for top end chocolates is the major growth of internet and catalog sales. It is much more convenient for many buyers, particularly the wealthy who prefer to avoid shopping your firm might want to consider issuing a holiday catalog or similar sales promotional device, but it is good to proceed with â€Å"all deliberate speed,† as the saying goes; do not rush into too many new approaches at once. In developing an internet sales approach, you will need a catchy and distinctive slogan for your chocolates, as well as perhaps some distinctive products to sell. Given the new focus on the health value of chocolates as a source of anti-oxidants comparable to red wine, you might consider a slogan such as LES GOURMANDS CHOCOLATES – AS GREAT FOR YOUR HEALTH AS FOR YOUR PALATE. Perhaps that is a bit wordy, but It gives you an idea. Be careful, of course, not to infringe on any copyrighted slogans of any other chocolate companies. You may want to retain an advertising firm to assist with the entire new marketing approach you will want to additional suggestions which I will make below. Chocolate makers who developed their skills during the era when the product was primarily directed to those with children, or those wanting traditional gifts, may be ill-suited to the new approaches required for real growth today. at their first opportunity. You alone should, therefore, do the final interviewing, but using some questions provided by the personnel recruiters dealing with loyalty. You may also want to institute a personnel testing system to provide additional information on job candidates.

HEALTH COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HEALTH COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES - Essay Example Among the objectives that I deemed fit for this paper include improving the health literacy of the population, increase the number of health practitioners with satisfactory communication kills and thirdly is to enlarge figure of patients who report that their health care providers contently involved them in their health care decisions. (Phase 1 report, 2008) The first goal is increasing health literacy among the general population. In an era where many of the rising diseases that is taking a tremendous toll on the world’s population are bad lifestyle habits, there is need to increase health literacy especially in such occasions where disease causes are cumulative persistence of bad habits. Increased awareness of healthy lifestyles that I should uphold has played an enormous part in the lifestyles decision that I make. Secondly, increasing health care practitioners with sufficient communication skills would in a huge way improve the freedom that most patients feel limited when talking to a healthcare provider. In addition, such skills have in the past enhanced the health care process since there was sufficient understanding between me and my health care providers, and between the respective health practitioners. Thirdly, the information involved with patient care technologies is highly involved in making sure that patients or thei r custodians make the wisest decision concerning their health problems. Through the objective, the United States government hopes to liberate the health sector in such a way that expert opinions can be incorporated with patients beliefs as well as the patient’s guardian views to form a single all rounded wise decision about the health care of the respective patient. This I think is most important since I feel a high level of freedom of will and satisfaction having taken decisions concerning my health care that my health care providers adhered to in my

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 37

Personal Statement - Essay Example hieve the needed personal and professional in the absence of education, especially Higher Education that is known for setting the paradigm for organizations to be run. Personally, I have chosen marketing as a course and this is the area I want to penetrate with my academic studies at UCAS. My reason for choosing marketing is influenced by a number of factors, major among which is the need for me to take total advantage of booming oil and gas riches that is currently in place in Qatar. For me to take advantage of the oil and gas riches do not mean enriching myself through marketing but equipping my knowledge, skill and competence with the ever growing media and advertising popularity in Qatar. Because of the oil and gas riches, a lot of companies continue to spring up by the day. Because the companies are many, there is so much competition among them that they can hardly survive in the absence of media publicity and advertisement. This is where my professional knowledge in marketing will become useful. My ambitions as a marketer in Qatar are well laid out. In the first place, I am hoping to start from the relatively lower rank where I shall work for a number of up and coming multinational companies. As my experience grows, I would move on to higher grounds by taking state-oriented positions, especially towards the World Cup 2022. The World Cup is certainly a very big event that the government attaches so much importance to. The World Cup 2022 will bring Qatar closer to the whole world and thus the need to glorify the image of the country through a successful hosting. This is where the need for the tournament and country in general to be well marketed comes in. I therefore a person who can be described as very hungry for success since my ambition run very high into the long term. I currently have so many experiences, interests and background that make me very suitable for my ambition to go as far as marketing the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. For example I am a very

Zappos Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Zappos - Case Study Example Customers are able to track the inventory of Zappos online. 2. Zappos creates superior customer experiences through do the unexpected. The company believes that customers who are shocked by the service that they receive will want to stay loyal to the brand for a long time. This also has a knock-on effect of picking up new customers who hear of the service quality offered by Zappos. Word-of-mouth marketing is an important tool that Zappos can use to attract new customers. 3. Quality management is an important part of the sales process for Zappos because the customer has a minimum demand for service. Zappos can only meet that demand by making sure that its customers are satisfied with the products they receive. Secondly, process design is also another important part of the service on offer because quality goods and services can only be offered to customers if the right inputs have been included in designing, procuring, and marketing the product or service effectively. Thirdly, service encounter design forms a crucial part of the Zappos experience because interactions between employees and customers can determine the success of the brand as a whole. Also, whenever a customer is not satisfied with the level of service shown by Zappos, the company needs to go beyond the normal level of service to regain the trust of the

Globalization-Albania Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Globalization-Albania - Essay Example Apparently, Albania has also been strongly affected by the impacts of globalization in almost every sphere of its economic environment (Fulani, 2012). Based on this notion, the discussion henceforth will attempt to analyze the history of Albania and the transactional era of the country, considering its post-independence era since the 1990s. Historians and economists have often argued that most of the changes witnessed in the economic structure of Albania took place during the 1990s, after its independence. For instance, at the post independent era, Albania began moving towards global open market operations, increasing the effects of globalization on the economy (Barolli, n.d.). These economic interventions in Albania will also be analyzed to review the prosperity of the nation, on the basis of several parameters. Contextually, this paper will aim at analyzing the political conditions of Albania and the governmental structure of the country, treating it as a parameter to achieve econo mic prosperity. The legal and regulatory business environment of Albania will also be discussed in the paper, captivating the concern of international trade rules and legal policies followed by the country. This paper will further concentrate on the economic advantages of the country, by analyzing the natural resources of Albania along with its financial and monetary policies. Furthermore, the several cultural dimensions of the Albania and the impact of this diversity on its economical growth will also be defined in the further discussion. In addition, the discussion will render due emphasis on identifying the key competitive advantages associated with the current economic model in Albania and accordingly, suggest few recommendations for the country to sustain its growth in the global context. History of Albania Albania is situated in the South-Eastern border of Europe. The country has an ‘emerging democracy’. Officially, it is well known as the ‘Republic of Alban ia’. Its capital is Tirana or Tirane (CIA, n.d.). However, the mystery is today solved and the people of Albania are referred as ‘Albanians’, the most Ancient Race in the South-Eastern Europe. Contextually, several theories have been established in order to solve the problems associated with the country and to reach the current state (Barolli, n.d.). According to Gjata (2013), â€Å"Albanian history is one long tale of epic struggles against one invader after the other†. Apparently, historical factors have impacted the identity of Albania through several centuries in terms of foreign dominations and also due to the two consequent World Wars. In the beginning of the 9th century, particularly because of the weaknesses possessed by the then authoritative Byzantine Empire in Albania, Angevins of the Southern Italy, Venetians as well as Serbs obtained the opportunity to invade Albania and consequently, obtain a dominating position within the dynasty. This furth er paved the way to the fall of Byzantine Empire in the country. As a result, in the mid of 14th century, the rule of Byzantine Empire came to the end, which was controlling the nation for almost 1000 years. After few decades, the country faced another threat which came from Ottoman Turks in the year 1388 and after four

Ask week 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ask week 3 - Essay Example In what ways can you ensure this? This can be argued to be correct because organisations should get to learn and understand foreign cultures and incorporate their customs into their operations (Warren 2011). When recruiting and hiring employees, an organization should have ethical approach towards the whole process. Explain how an organization should carryout this process in relation to its internationalisation. This is vital especially depending on whether an organization want to keep local standards and values or to create an international â€Å"universal† code. In relation to your quench to develop a leading-edge bionanotechnology-based detection system for laboratory medicine, what are some advantages of approaching the issue as group? It is apparent that working as a team could lead to new seminal findings and discoveries (Spence 1998). In what ways can various cultures influence how work is done in laboratory? For example, some aspects like the cultural aspects of consensus thinking and problem-solving, seniority of position over those of junior standing and the notions of class or castes such as socioeconomic may highly impact on decision making and problem solving (Korthals 2008). Do you think a more universal code, framework for operating or organizational guidelines can add greatly to improving your situation? If yes, state in what ways. For example, in some of your groups the notion of ‘losing one’s face’ is very important concept that is varied by type of group. Therefore, taking a more relative than absolute approach to individual interpretations could be crucial (Svensson and Wood 2008). Are there advantages of working with individuals with international experience? This is important because collaborative work may need people with vast experience on how to work as a group with people from other culture. In what ways would an

Magic Carpet Airlines Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Magic Carpet Airlines - Case Study Example They used the League of Flight Attendants to articulate their issues with the management. The other stakeholder in the case was Magic Carpet Airlines team that represented the company with whom these issues were being addressed (Kennedy, 2007). Compensation was one of the major problems in this situation. The base wages for Magic Carpet Airline’s flight attendants were relatively low and the data that they collected from Monthly Labor Review helped them conclude that the base wage was not matching the cost of living that had gone up. The airline’s flight attendants observed that the company’s wage scheme was fixed and was contended for a five-year wage review (Guasco, 2007). Job security was the other major issue in this situation. The flight attendants felt that they risked losing their seniority if the deal between Magic Carpet Airline and RCA went through. The company did not provide a clear way of reassuring its flight attendants that their contract was binding and this made them feel like they could lose their jobs anytime (Kennedy, 2007). The third major problem in this situation was working conditions. The company assigned its flight attendants a prolonged trip trading lead-time of five days but they felt that it should be reduced to one day. The company provided $6 monthly for the maintenance of flight attendants’ uniforms but they felt that the about needed to be raised to $20 (Shell, 2006). The fourth major problem in the negotiations was the disparity between the wages and wok rules, and Magic Carpet Airline’s financial performance. The league of flight attendants demanded for the harmonization of the company’s wages with its financial performance. I would recommend that the League of Flight Attendants utilize quarterly meetings with the board of directors of the company in order to discuss their issues. This would provide a platform for them to air their grievances before they escalate. Secondly, I would

Wigand vs. brown and Williamson- ethical issues Essay

Wigand vs. brown and Williamson- ethical issues - Essay Example ere not only grounded on the dangers accompanied smoking but also the fact that the company was adding chemicals to the cigarettes and this made the consumption of such cigarettes more addictive to the consumers. First, there was ethical violation of the consumers’ rights. Apart from the fact that the company endangered the lives of the people, it was also unlawfully and corruptly obtaining wealth from the unsuspecting consumers. When investigation was instituted by the CBS, Wigand was convinced by Lowell Bergman to make his testimony proving the allegation through an interview. In the process of doing that, Wigand found himself in an awkward situation that put his entire life at risk. The information he provided regarding this malpractice was treated with contempt. He suffered a lot of harassment and faced numerous threats because of such crucial information. The point of interest was that the CBS did not air the interview and the information that was presented by Wigand despite the risk he had taken. The main reason that the CBS gave for the failure to air the interview was the fear of litigation by the company. The CBS had broken law in this matter because of the omission. As a fourth estate, it was important that they work at the interest of the people and not base their actions on fear of actions being taken by the company. This was one of the major ethical dilemmas that CBS had placed itself in. It was now serving its own interests based on assumption rather than the interest of the people. It was revealed that the management of the CBS has chosen not to air the interview purely for monetary reasons. According to the study, it was revealed that the CBS did not want to taint their name with any legal issues particularly litigations, considering that they were at the verge of selling their company with the Westinghouse, and negotiatio ns were at critical level. This envisaged litigation was seen to have the potential of lowering the company stock.

Comparison of Heroin Lies with The Basketball Diaries Essay Example for Free

Comparison of Heroin Lies with The Basketball Diaries Essay Heroin is a deadly drug, which kills approximately one million people every year. In this essay I will be comparing two dramatic acts. Heroin Lies, which I acted out. The other is a 1995 hit called The Basketball Diaries. I chose this particular film to compare with my act because they have several similarities but also a number amount of differences. The beginning of the film The Basketball diaries starts with an ordinarily boy waking up in bed on a normal day. Instantly you see that he has got a type of book in his hand, which later on we see that it is his diary which he occasionally writes in. In the block opposite him we see a strong religious woman constantly shouting out what seems to be a prayer. We then witness the boy by the name of Jimmy Carroll change from an innocent being to a horrifying beast as he tells this religious woman to Shut up! We now see that Jimmy has a horrible side to him. As we watch on we see that Jimmy Carroll is a star basketball player on his New York City Catholic school team. Fellow basketball team mates Mickey and Neutron and unofficial cheerleader Pedro are Jimmys closest friends, and whenever trouble stalks one, it invariably affects them all. So, when the drug cycle starts, it quickly spreads to each of the four corners of the friendship. What begins as casual use first becomes a weekend habit, then an everyday obsession. Grades plummet, on-court performance becomes unreliable, and crime looms as the only means to pay for a seemingly endless supply of uppers, downers, cocaine, and heroin. Heroin Lies is a play written by Wayne Denfhy. The story is about a young teenage girl that is having problems with friends. Later on she finds her self addicted to heroin and soon after dies at an early age. We chose a scene from the play and we made changes to the scene as apart of our task, for example we added monologues and dialogues. I learnt a lot about the characters in our scene. Vicki was a young stubborn teenager who had a lot of confusing things going on in her life, although she finally decided to make a decision and start taking drugs to solve her problems. Mandy had been involved with drugs longer than Vicki. So obviously Mandy would be more confident about it. Mandy can easily loose her temper as we showed in the play when Vicki hits the drugs all over the floor. Mandy ends up slapping Vicki. This implies that Mandy is quite violent and doesnt know how to control her emotions very well. My character (Jason) wears corded trouser and an old knitted woollen jumper to sho w that he bought them from Oxfam, since what he wears is mentioned in the script. I believe that Jason is quite immature watching playschool and pretending to grow into a big tree. However this end scene Mandy got what she came for. Jason, my character, was an older brother of Vicki, as it says in the script however I had played him younger then Vicki. As Mandy was flirting with me I used a stuttering voice to emphasize the fact that I was shy. This tells us that Jason is growing up as the tree is growing, and Vicki is stuck, still having problems with friends and drugs. This scene Mandy probably would like to know more about Jason. Not only does the relationship between Mandy, and Jason but the relationship with Vicki later on in the scene. Vicki seems more dominating with Jason since she scares him off. I dont believe that Vicki feels very comfortable having Mandy in her house. This results in Vicki snatching the drugs off Mandy and Mandy hitting Vicki. After Vicki has been hit. Mandy comes to her senses and tells her she regrets hitting her and asks Vicki to take some drugs. I believe that this is the most important part of the scene because this is the first step of Vicki ending her life. Heroin Lies and The Basketball Diaries in my opinion had interesting but defiantly very similar characters. Vicki Brown (Heroin Lies) who is a drug addict who gets thrown out of her house. Jimmy Carroll (The Basketball Diaries) is a drug addict and like Vicki Brown gets thrown out of his house. This is an example of a similarity. However after becoming a drug addict Vicki Brown then leads to a tragic ending. Whilst Jimmy Carroll then realises his mistakes, then fights his addiction to drugs. I have researched Heroin to find out more about this drug. Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its use is a serious problem in America. Recent studies suggest a shift from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction. (From a website discussing drugs) The play that I did Heroin Lies and the film The Basketball Diaries had several similarities and differences. The main similarity that I picked up was that these two plays were based on drugs. This is also the main reason I chose to compare these two plays. Heroin Lies was set in the 90s, which is modern time. These days it tends to be teenagers that are addicted to these drugs. The film The Basketball Diaries was also set in the 90s, which again the teenagers are pushed towards Heroin.

Greek Roman Athletic

Greek Roman Athletic Greek and Roman sports Introduction Ancient Greek and Roman civilization have made many enduring contributions to western civilization. Such as politics, sports, and trade are present in western society because of Greece and Rome. The Ancient Greeks and Romans have engaged a everlastingly nebulous place in our psyche, and have hence assumed a powerful place in our fantasies about many things. Running the gamut from wrestling to boomerang, Sports and Games of the Ancients spans the world to bring us collection of athletic and spirited pastimes, rituals, and contests. In Ancient Greek and Romans Sports, athletic contested very hard and it was a public display that was a trait of the religious and social life of ancient Greece and Rome (Osborne 15). The ancient athletes were untainted in mind and body and they trained and participate for no other reason than the passion for physical exercise, fair competition and to honor their gods. In this article I will to discuss the Greek and Roman attitudes toward sports. Attitudes of the two Societies The Greek society was unique in way because it was the first to put man at the center of the universe. Unlike the creature deities of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the gods of the Greeks are human in form. Man was there source of inspiration and thus loved they he would be competitive in all fields specially sports. The Roman society did not had the time or inclination to turn to softer, lazier, and altogether more debauched things such as sitting around and talking or writing books. Nevertheless, the Romans, unlike the Greeks, were illustrious by practicality and common sense, not by a love of abstract thought. The Roman societies imagination has too often been regarded as, at worst, deficient and derivative, and, at best, pragmatic rather than sophistic (Osborne 74). The similarity between Greek and Roman thought has I think by and large been over-simplified in modern accounts, and has not often been considered to be an interesting subject. Still both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction. How brutal were Greek sports The ancient competition, physically, was poles apart from our modern games. There were far fewer events and only free Greek speaking men (and sometimes boys) were allowed to compete because of severity and brutality. There was no team competition, and the emphasized on individual achievement through public competition was related to the Greek ideal of excellence, called Arete. In Greece the games served at first as a constituent in various spiritual observances: Some were held in admiration of the gods, some as offerings of thanksgiving. Others, in later times, were held in honor of living people. The Greek games where brutal but with their attendant processions, feasts, and music, played an important role in developing the approval of physical beauty that is typical of Greek art and literature. The four main cycles of games were the Olympic Games, the Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games, and the Nemean Games (Kyle 48). Was Roman sporting even more brutal then the Greek sports The Roman games, like those of the Greeks, were partially religious in nature. However, corrupt politicians used the games to win the errands of the populace and vied with one another in the lavishness and profligacy of the games, which were held on the flimsiest of pretexts and eventually lost their original religious meaning and purpose. Certainly warfare familiarized Romans with violence, and violent spectacles escalated with, and symbolized, the territorial expansion of the empire and the blood sports acted as a surrogate for war. Public spectacles were of various kinds. They included a gladiatorial combat, stage-plays in every quarter of Rome performed in every language, chariot races in the Circus, athletic competitions, and a mock naval battle. Without a doubt, the Greek games depended for their entertainment value primarily on rivalry among athletes; while the Roman games were often describe by the staging of battles fought to the death and involved large numbers of human beings and also beasts (Kyle 184). The Roman sporting was crueler because in Greece the people were often participants, whereas in Rome they were mere spectators, and only professional athletes, slaves, and prisoners usually took part. Conclusion The Greek and Roman cultures truly transformed the art of civilization. We can clearly see the love for sports in Greek and the Romans. It was through Justinians code, Roman law influenced civil law codes throughout much of Western Europe (Kyle 26). We learn that the ancient Greeks and Romans shaped their own idea about the meaning of life. The Roman games were radically different from the Greek games in several respects. But still it shows the mindset of the people of that time. Without a doubt the modern Americans would find much of that sports awfully violent; particularly the hundreds of gladiator contests and animal fights, with their many public deaths of both people and wild animals. We surely learn that some upper-class Romans were dismayed at the brutality of the games but defended them as a means of directing popular anger away from the elite. The useful lessons we learn I think is of bravery and courage in the face of death. Works Cited Osborne, R. Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Kyle, Donald G. Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World. New York: Blackwell Pub, 2007.

Impact of VoIP on the Future of Telephony

Impact of VoIP on the Future of Telephony With the dawning of a new age of pervasive computing, there is a greater requirement for the exchange of data to be made possible between computing assets that are connected to a network. Interactions require an exchange of various multimedia formats as well as the provision of enhanced services including instant messaging and presence management. There is, therefore, a need for a converged network that is capable of carrying both voice and multimedia in digitised form. Single network that is capable of carrying both voice and multimedia is preferable to having more than one networks because such a network is vastly more economical. Packet networks that use the internet protocol have emerged as a solution for this requirement. These networks are capable of carrying all forms of data as well as voice over the internet protocol in real time. The networks use the internet protocol to provide a universal connectivity that was not previously possible. Despite the earlier problems involving latency, quality of service and reliability in the establishment of connections, VoIP or Voiceover the Internet Protocol has come to be accepted as a matured technology. The proliferation of this technology is steadily increasing because of the economic considerations associated with its use as well as the futuristic services that are capable of being provided on I networks. It has been estimated that by the year 2015, VoIP will have captured about 50% of the global market share for telephony. VoIP has, therefore, proven to be a killer application for switched telephone networks and its advent has unleashed an unprecedented level of competition at all levels in the telecommunications industry. This dissertation takes a look at the impact of the VoIP technology on the future of telephony. 1.1 Introduction Switched telephony networks have been responsible for carrying most of the world’s voice communications over the past decades, but with the advent of the relatively new communication technologies, there is likely to be a change towards a greater use of the telecommunications networks that carry voice as well as other information. The switched telephone networks and equipment were designed as fixed communications channels for bi-directional speech. In the old public switched network, a call that is initiated by a user establishes a connection between two users and once the connection has been established, no one else could use the connection. Terminating the call frees the line for other users who can then initiate another call. With the evolution of computers, modems were used to modulate data streams over the voice telephony channels and over time, better modulation schemes were developed that resulted in higher data transmission rates. Developments in computing and multimedia have created a demand for new kinds of services and the telecommunications infrastructure that is in use is expected to satisfy this demand. The development of internet and computer data networks along with the evolution of the Internet Protocol or the IP meant that it is now possible to send packets of data over the network. Voice can now be digitized after the speech signal is acquired from a microphone, encapsulated into packets and sent over the networks using the internet protocol. On the receiving side, these packets are de-encapsulated, processed and played over the speaker to present the information to the listener. This method of transporting voice over the internet protocols called the voice over internet protocol or VoIP. It is also possible to send video and data from other shared applications to destinations using the internet protocol. A codec is used to encode and decode speech, audio and video over the IP network and there is no need to reserve a connection between parties to the call. Signalling is, however, required to create and manage calls. Personal mobility, desire to communicate and availability can make the task of the required network signalling a complex one. There are several standards which have been developed for signalling over the new IP networks. The Session Initiation Protocol or the SIP which was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force or the IETF manages the creation of a call as distinct from the ringers and switches in a switched network. For a more generalised exchange of data including video conferencing over the IP, the H.323 standard has been developed by the International Telecommunication Union, ITU for the management of network connections and the associated tasks of bandwidth allocation etc. There has been growing acceptance of VoIP all over the world and a growing number of users including businesses, especially call centres, as well as network service providers have started to use this technology. A lower cost forth user is associated with the use of VoIP and this is the major factor in presenting a business case for the use of VoIP, along with the ability to send multimedia over a telecommunications link. IP makes more efficient use of the bandwidth that is available and inflated cross border tariffs are avoided. Tariffs and regulations associated with VoIP telephony are, however, in a flux and it is difficult to predict how VoIP will be affected as a result of a possible implementation of new internet access charges. Adding a new media type on IP requires no change to the network infrastructure and the initiation of multiparty calls is only slightly different from a two-party call. IP also makes it possible to develop novel telecommunication devices and it is now possible for the world to progress beyond the simple voice telephone to the IP’s more exciting applications. It is possible to use the public telephone network PSTN /IP Gateway Interoperability standard to feed IP encoded voice messages over the telephone network. This protocol coupled with the Resource Reservation Protocol, RSVP, makes it possible for an application to have a certain amount of bandwidth allocated with a maximum delay which assists in the implementation of a VoIP connection. Developments in new multimedia technologies has meant that there are two types of telecommunications networks which are in existence today, the old switched PSTN network with its reliability and quality along with the new packet based networks with cost efficiencies and an ability to provide the new types of services. Although VoIP technology is developing and gaining a much wider acceptance, it is has not been without its problems. Because it is not possible to guarantee the arrival time of the data packets which have been sent over a packet network, there were problems with the voice quality when using VoIP. These problems could, however, be solved by using private networks and more internet bandwidth. Although VoIP does not use a large chunk of the internet bandwidth that is available, other applications that are running may result in a deterioration of the voice quality. Hence, it was important to carefully consider how the internet connection was to be utilized and what bandwidth was required to be purchased. The security of VoIP communications was also considered to be a problem and it was thought that there was a need to compress voice and enhance security by using commercially available encryption products. The added latency or delay in voice communications was, however, considered to be unacceptable. The best and the latest encryption devices are restricted items and their export is prohibited under United States Export regulations. There were, therefore, problems associated with implementing VoIP using either hardware or software and better quality of service or Qi’s was only possible with dedicated hardware. Although VoIP can hide costs associated with communications from the consumers, these costs could be returned in the form of service fees. There was a need for call service capability to be brought to packet switching and the Qi’s had to be controlled to fall within acceptable limits. One of the important challenges of VoIP waste construct a converged VoIP and PSTN network that will permit VoIP and PSTN connectivity, with calls originating from one network and terminating into the other network. The SIP protocol which establishes the call in VoIP uses multiple messages with multiple parameters to initiate a call session and this protocol could fail because messages were not transmitted in the proper order with proper parameters and configuration. A miss-configured user proxy address for the user can result in host unreachable messages being presented to the client. The Internet Control Message Protocol and the INVITE messages which are a part of the SIP protocol could be dropped when attempting to conduct a session using VoIP due to traffic, resulting in there being no connection to the remote system. SIP did not work well when tried from behind firewalls. Hence, with VoIP, call traffic becomes data traffic and this traffic is exposed to threats related to confidentiality, availability and integrity. Hence, care needed to be taken when implementing VoIP in organisations, to provide for good design to prevent cost overruns, misalignment with strategic objectives and inadequate benefit realisation. IP networks must be able to meet strict performance criteria and perform for real time traffic. Packets travelling on a network will pass through a heterogeneous network with varying quality of service and bandwidth, but a reasonably good end-to-end quality of service is expected for voice communications. Signalling or the passing of messages for correct call setup, progress and termination is also important on the network. Hence, the implementation of VoIP was associated with the solution of important technical problems. Despite the above problems that have been improved upon, VoIP today can match the features that were available in the legacy PBX systems and infect provide an enhanced set of features. The Internet today is an essential business tool and Internet connections are considered to be essential fixtures for any business premises. VoIP telephony systems have been designed to utilise the advantages of IP telephony in order to present a flexible communications infrastructure which businesses can use in order to simplify the business process and enhance productivity. Many manufacturers of legacy telephony products have also accepted that IP telephony is the future and that the technology provides better communications equipment with enhanced features. VoIP has been showing a far greater level of proliferation in business organisations than ever before. Market reports have indicated that there is an increasing trend towards the full deployment of VoIP rather than its mere implementation. Because there is an increased level of satisfaction and familiarity with VoIP technology, converged networks that blend VoIP and other technologies are considered to be more strategic in nature rather than the traditional voice and data networks. Security at the network infrastructure level is considered tube more important than voice security, with the level of satisfaction associated with the technology remaining about the same. The new networks, which have new equipment that is in demand in the market includes IP PBXs or IP enabled traditional PBXs, Voice Enabled Routers,IP Phones, IP Centrex’s and Soft Phones etc. The new technology has changed the network components and the nature of the equipment that has been associated with telephony. IP PBXs indicated a 15% growth rate while IP Centrex indicated a 54% growth rate in usage from previous years according to market reports. A Centrex is essentially a scaled down PBX with features that are supported by the service provider. Adoption of IP telephony presents advantages related to an enhanced and converged business process as well as advantages related to costs of adoption or changes. It is easier to deploy new integrated applications which may benefit the enterprise. Costs of calls within an organisation, between different sites are substantially reduced and enhanced features become available. Other advantages that result from the adoption of IP telephony include reduced staff costs, lowered costs associated with wiring, lower international call charges as well as reduced costs associated with the upgrading and maintenance of telephony equipment, including the PBX. Because VoIP is a more complex and sophisticated technology as compared to the legacy telephony networks, instrumentation systems that are required for troubleshooting and managing VoIP have been cited as a barrier to its implementation. It has also been claimed that there is a shortage of trained people forth design and maintenance of VoIP networks. Because VoIP networks are so very different from the legacy telephone networks, substantial investments can be required to implement large projects, even though financial instruments are available to sustain a growth in the adoption of VoIP. Sophisticated upgrade of the legacy networks involving the purchase of new network equipment, servers, IP phones, management software and diagnostic tools may be involved to acquire a network with acceptable levels of latency, jitter and the number of lost packets. VoIP Architecture An obvious question that arises with regard to VoIP telephony is how it’s different from the legacy telephone networks? In the legacy telephony networks, voice communications had been handled by the proprietary PBX platforms providing circuit connection and circuit switched calling features such as call transfer and hold along with voice applications such as call accounting, voice mail and automated call distribution. The PBX ensured that savings were made by avoiding having to provide a line to each telephony user for connection to the organisation’s central office. The PBX acted like a small central office with switching being made possible to users as required over a number of shared external telephone lines. The number of external telephone lines that were needed depended on the number of users that had to be connected to the PBX and the expected telephone traffic into the connection in elands. The PBX which could be considered to have the telephony switching intelligence was connected to the dumb telephone terminals or the telephones which merely passed digital keystrokes to the PBX for switching and voice application related decisions to be made. PBX systems in switched telephony can be networked together, but such efforts are likely to be expensive. It was most likely that key telephone systems could not network with other key telephone systems and peripheral devices such as a Centrex could not interconnect with a PBX or another system. Hence, the legacy telephone systems were plagued with connectivity problems along with being expensive. The IP telephone system changed all this by adopting the router instead of the PBX as the distributor of traffic on the all data packet network. The routers connect not just one network together, but hundreds of thousands of networks, with the essential function of arouser being the diversion of packet data traffic to the appropriate devices on the network, with the correct IP addresses. Hence, while thebe in the legacy system used to divert voice traffic to telephone numbers, the router diverts data packets of various kinds including voice, multimedia or video etc. to the data network equivalent of telephone number or an IP address. Interconnection problems are minimised because there is a standard IP protocol which is used to transport packets over the IP network and all IP protocol compatible devices may be interfaced with each other. The IP protocol is able to connect equipment manufactured by many different vendors over different types of media such as the twisted pair, coaxial or other data links such as the Ethernet or Token Ring and even the wireless connections. The packets are transported in a reliable manner with the IP protocol running on devices ranging from PCs to mainframes. IP is everywhere and it carries packet traffic faithfully from anyone sending this traffic to anyone who is required to receive it. There is, therefore, a global standard that is understood anywhere in the world and unprecedented connectivity is made possible for all kinds of devices. Amongst the other advantages of VoIP include provision of directory services over the telephone by which it is possible for ordinary telephones to be enhanced in order to act as internet access devices, availability offender office trunks for inter office communications, ability to access the office from a remote area such as the home and the ability to interact with the large number of customers who may want to make enquiries after having visited the corporate web site through IP based call centres. Fax over IP is also made available through the VoIP connection and it is possible to send fax data that has been converted into packets over long distances without having to deal with problems related to analogue signal quality and machine compatibility. In the present scheme of things, the Integrated Services Digital Network or the ISDN represents the all-digital network that uses single wire to carry both voice and digital network services. ISDN tools an improvement on the old switched telecommunications network and this network too has been improved upon over the years to include new features. The ISDN uses the existing switched network with digital signalling and media transmission being used, which makes it possible for the subscriber to access a number of services through a single access point. A number of different ISDN connections are available, but the most widely and commonly used connection is the basic rate interface or the BRI which consists of two 64 kbps media channels and single signalling or â€Å"delta† channel. Signalling channels are used to establish calls and perform call related signalling which permits theist network to be connected to networks with standard SS signalling. ISDN is the subject of an International Telecommunications Union or ITU specification, the ITU-T recommendation which results in standardisation. However, this network is not as versatile as the packet switched network that has an all-digital approach with no analogue signalling whatsoever and which also has universal connectivity. Switched – circuit networks rely on a fixed routing over the network to establish a connection. However, VoIP networks do not need to follow a fixed routing path and there is an adaptive routing algorithm that is employed to establish the best possible route under varying conditions of traffic. There is, therefore, a decentralized environment and the network is flexible enough to accept the deployment of new applications. Intelligence is important and this can be stored anywhere on the new IP networks. VoIP does not provide a guaranteed quality of service or Qi’s when compared to the PSTN. However, PSTN uses expensive components and resources, whereas VoIP is able to provide connectivity at a reduced cost. It is the VoIP gateway which is responsible for connecting or interfacing the IP network to the rest of the telephony network. Forth gateway, converting the media signal to the required format is only matter of transforming an input signal to an output signal. However, signalling and control translation requires conversion of semantics as well as syntax and there is a requirement for conveying the meaning of signals and control information from one network to the other. Hence, the evolution of VoIP telephony has made it necessary to provide an interface between various telecommunications networks and newer VoIP networks are connected to the older networks by means of interfacing equipment such as the gateways. It can, therefore, be concluded that the emergence of IP telephony and VoIP have significantly changed telephony and it is very likely that the enhanced pace of VoIP adoption that has been witnessed in the business sector will continue to accelerate because of the convenience and cost savings that are offered by the relatively new technology. It’s, therefore, worth investigating how VoIP technology will evolve and how this technology will change the future of telephony. The growth of VoIP has been phenomenal and Gartner estimates that the sale of consumer products for VoIP will grow by more than 40% in the United States in the year 2007. The advantages, disadvantages and the impact of VoIP on telephony are discussed below. 2.1 Products, Services and Issues Related to VoIP In this section, it will be appropriate to discuss how VoIP technology has changed networks and network components and also how telephony services that are available have evolved as a result of the availability of VoIP technology. Products that use the VoIP technology are also discussed. Network devices have evolved and changed as a result of the development of VoIP technology. The telephony switches, ringers and colour coded cables are likely to be replaced by the data network components. The heart of a VoIP phone system is the call processing server which is also known as the IP PBX into which all VoIP control connections are terminated. Call processing servers do not handle the actual VoIP payload, however, conferencing functionality, routing of voice traffic to another call processing server and music on hold features are provided by the call processing servers. The VoIP payload traffic flows in a peer-to-peer fashion from one VoIP terminal to every VoIP terminal. VoIP control traffic, however, flows in a client –server model with VoIP terminals being the clients that communicate with the call processing servers. Call processing servers are usually software based but they may also be implemented as a dedicated appliance or be a part of a router platform and there may be a single server, a cluster of servers or a server farm. This server caters forth signalling mechanism that is required for a VoIP call establishment. Gateways are devices which act as the link between telephone signals and the IP endpoint. The functions that are performed by gateways include the search function, connection function, digitizing function and the demodulation function. The gateway contains directory of the telephone numbers which have an associated Padres and a search is performed by the gateway to convert a dialled telephone number into an IP address upon a call being received to establish a connection. A connection is established between the calling party and a destination gateway through an exchange of information that is related to call setup, option negotiation, compatibility as well as a security handshake. The gatekeeper also digitizes any analogue signals that are received from the incoming trunk into a form that is useful for the gateway. The incoming analogue signals are usually digitized into a 64 Kbps data stream which is pulse code modulated orca. The gateway is, therefore, required to be able to interface to a number of telephone signalling conventions so that the VoIP network can be interfaced to another network when required. Sophisticated gateways can accept both voice and fax signals and the fax signal is usually demodulated into a 2.4 – 14.4 Kbps digital format that is transmitted in the form of IP packets on the VoIP or IP network. A remote gateway-modulates any fax related data into the fax format and this is relayed to the remote fax machine. Gateways on the IP network are connected to gatekeepers, which are LAN endpoints and these gatekeepers perform a discovery on being switched on to find out what IP addresses are connected to the LAN. This discovery information is then passed onto the gateway and the gatekeeper synchronises with the gateways to exchange data traffic if required. A collection of a gatekeeper and its registered endpoints are called a zone. A gatekeeper performs the function of bandwidth management upon receiving a request for bandwidth allocation, translates alias addresses into transport addresses and performs the admission control function to the LAN, based on admission requests and confirms or rejects messages including ARQ / ARC and Arà ªte. The gatekeeper, therefore, acts as a zone manager by performing variety of functions for its zone and the associated gateways as well as other devices in the zone. IP telephones have replaced the conventional telephony sets and the IP phones provide enhanced services suited to VoIP, while retaining the features that were available with the conventional instruments in order to keep the users who were used to the conventional phones comfortable. Soft phones are software packages that may be installed on a PC and the user may use the Platform with an attached microphone for communications on the VoIP channel. The VoIP network may be classified as a logical switch that Isa packet network and it is different from the circuit– switched infrastructure of the legacy networks. Voice and data traffic have to be treated differently and if both types of traffic is to flow on the same network, then there has to be a capability for prioritisation. VoIP networks, unlike the circuit switched networks, can be considered in terms of statistical availability in which priority is given to packets of a specific application with a certain class of service or Qi’s. VoIP traffic is, therefore, given priority over other traffic flowing on the networks in order to ensure that the real time applications related to speech communications are met. Regardless of what type of equipment is being used to receive VoIP packets, there can be a substantial packet loss over the network and this can degrade the quality of speech that is played out on the speaker. To improve the situation a â€Å"jitter buffer† is employed. This jitter buffer is a stack area in memory in which packets are stored prior to being played on the phone’s speaker. The jitter buffer adds to the overall delay that is involved in the VoIP speech transport but it’s necessary to allow for lost packets and to implement error correction schemes. Forward error correction schemes or FEC schemes are employed to check for corrupted packets. In the intra-packet error correction scheme, additional bits of data are added to the packet in order to make it possible for the receiving end to determine if packet has become corrupted. Uncorrupted packets are played out while corrupted packets are rejected. Another scheme that is utilised to cater for packet loss is the extra packet FEC in which additional information is added to each of the packets which makes it possible forth receiving end to extrapolate voice if a packet is lost or becomes corrupted. Hence, unlike the analogue telephony equipment in which only filtering and amplification of the received analogue signals was performed, there is a substantial amount of digital signal processing using microprocessors that is conducted in the VoIP packet based equipment. The error correction and detecting codes can be quite powerful, depending on the computing power that is available and hence the quality of the received voice can be improved. Delay is, however, introduced due to the digital processing of the packets and this can become an annoyance. For delays in excess of 600 Ms, voice communications is impossible while delays of 250 Ms disturb the communication considerably. Delays of 100 Ms do not show up as delays in the conversation and hence there is an upper limit that has to be observed when processing the packets on the VoIP networks. High voice quality on the VoIP channel is bandwidth intensive and atoll telephone quality voice connection can require 64 Kbps data streamer call. However, it is not possible to conduct a call of this quality on the VoIP networks because of the bandwidth limitations. Speech compression is, therefore, used using different compression ended-compression codec’s in order to bring the required data rates to what can be sustained on the VoIP networks. Using codec techniques such as the G. 729 and silence suppression in which the areas of speech in which nothing is said are not converted into packets reduce the bandwidth substantially to about 5 – 6 Kbps for a voice conversation tube possible on the VoIP channel. This is a remarkable achievement of digital signal processing considering that the overheads that are required by the routers on the network can run into about 7 Kbps. Silence suppression techniques can make the listener uncomfortable and to add to the natural flow of conversation, the ambient noise is periodically sampled and regenerated at the receiving end in between the pauses in the active speech so that the listener can feel more comfortable. All the digital signal processing, handshaking and coordination that is going on behind the scenes is transparent to the user of the VoIP channel and the user should be able to use the VoIP instrument naturally as a phone was used. The management interface forth equipment that is in use is able to deal with telephony protocols, dialling plans, compression algorithms, access controls, PSTN fullback features, port interactions and management of the configuration for the instrument that is being used on the VoIP channel. Telephone numbers and IP address need to be handled transparently to the user and personal computers making voice calls will require telephone numbers to make the calls possible. The packets that are sent over the VoIP network are encoded for the UDP/IP protocol instead of the TCP/I protocol so that retransmission of packets is not possible. TCP/IP is, however, a better choice for fax messages so that if packets are lost while attempting to transmit a page, the fax can be terminated. Retransmission of packets is hidden from the fax machine if TCP/I encoding is used for fax messages. The widespread use of the TCP/IP protocol has resulted in a move towards what are known as converged networks. Convergence may be defined as one structure or one network architecture that will end up supporting all kinds of information media on all available network technologies. This means that it should be somehow possible to bring together all kinds of telecommunications technologies and interface them to each other in order to provide universal connectivity and inability to send and receive just about almost anything which may be required to be sent or received. Such universal connectivity has been made possible as a result of the widespread adoption of the IP protocol and this is the glue which binds all networks and applications. Apart from VoIP, the other building blocks of convergence include unified messaging which attempts to integrate all forms of messages, computer and telephony integration which makes it possible to intelligently identify and route calls as well as automatically present information related to the caller, XML which provides a standardised format for data storage and interchange, Voice XML which makes it possible for an application to hear key tones that are encoded in DTMF. SALT, which stands for Speech Application Language Tags make it possible for existing mark-up languages such as XML to access telephony related applications. SIP or the Session Initiation Protocol makes it possible to provide signalling for voice applications on IP as well as making it possible to initiate a voice call from an instant messaging application. Convergence promises to make it possible to interact with computers and other computing devices with intelligence and individuals can interact with others in ways that were never dreamt of before. Mere telephony will cease to exist in the future and will be replaced with capabilities for multimodal integration involving speech, text, pictures and web interactions that can take place through instruments that will replace the simple telephone of the days gone by. It will be possible for organisations and call centres to interact at a much superior level, with those who interact with them and such interactions can involve quick access to

Keeping Peace and Freedom :: Politics Political Freedom Essays

Keeping Peace and Freedom George Bush who is the President of the United States of America came and visited our small town of Flagstaff in September of 2002. As a leader of our country, he reminds the Americans that we should be grateful for our freedom. Through contextualizing, structure, and rhetorical appeals, he gets through to his listeners by reminding us all, that keeping peace and freedom is not an easy job to do. He tells us how lucky we are to have freedom, and what we have to do to keep our â€Å"homeland† safe for our children of today. He speaks on behalf of his people, and what he will do to keep his people safe from our enemies who â€Å"hate† us, because we choose to be free! As President, he is sworn to protect his people, and to keep everything in order in our country. He travels the world to try and promote peace among us and other countries. In this speech that was given by the President, he is speaking to everyone. The General Public, Professionals, Students, and every other citizen. He speaks of freedom and how to protect our â€Å"homeland†. He states â€Å"the enemies hate us because we have freedom†. (P. #3). As Americans we have the freedom to live where we want to, and how we want to. Most of all we have the â€Å"Freedom of Speech†. We voice our opinions when we feel it is necessary, without being punished by the government. In America, we stand together as one nation, to keep peace and freedom! Identifying the structure of Bush’s speech is ways to keep peace and freedom among everyone. In order to keep our freedom, we need to work together to keep our enemies out. He incorporates on how to eliminate all the â€Å"bad guys† one by one, so they will not hurt us again. Bush points out three main reasons to keep peace and freedom; 1.) Protecting our homeland! 2.) Hunting down the enemies. 3.) Preventing the killers from hurting America again. Protecting our homeland is a very difficult job to do, but it can be done when our people come together and fight for our nation.

Essay --

The Pura Principle is one of the most interesting stories written by Junot Diaz. The narrator of the story is Yunior a character that Junot had used in earlier stories. The story is also full of potent language further makes it quite interesting to read. Analysis of the plot it is also evident that the story also flows nicely especially due to the presence of several interesting imagery. Upon reading the story one of the issues that come to the mind of every reader is the question of what was main theme that the writer of the story wanted to convey. In this essay I argue that the writer of the story mainly wanted to bring out theme of conflict that exits in the modern Americans family setting. This essay therefore presents a strong view that the story bring out theme of peace and conflict that every family is subjected to. Right of from the beginning of the story the author first tries to describe the conflict that existed between Yunior and his elder brother Rafa. The author states that Yunior started drinking while he was still in high school. Whenever Rafa came home he does not have time to talk to his brother since he mostly spends time partying and drinking with his friends. Rafa even goes a step further where he comes home with women despite the objection by his mother of bringing women home without her approval. Rafa assumes that whatever advice he is given by his mother he can ignore with no consequences since at times he even goes ahead to spend time with his old girlfriend knowing very well that she is married. In most families peace is assumed to exist whenever the family members are able to sit and enjoy time together. This type of peace is rarely seen in this story since in most cases no one seems to care what th... ...ossible to conclude that the author mainly wanted to show some of the conflicts that exist in the contemporary society. Family conflict is depicted in the story as inevitable but the critical issue is how one deals with such issues. Others can also argue that the story does not have a specific theme since it only consist of a plot and voice of Yunior who is the main character. Lack of specific theme is also related to the fact that the story seems to be too simple. The story can also be seen to lack any specific theme since the author of the story makes several grammatical mistakes in mixing Spanish language with English. In addition the author also incorporates several unprofessional languages in the story that further interfere with any plot of the story. The story can also be seen as to bring out feminist related issues where women are demonstrated as powerless.